====== xargs command line examples ======

This article provides usage examples of the xargs linux/unix utility.



===== About xargs =====

xargs is a linux/unix command line utility that reads items from the standard input, delimited by blanks or newlines, and executes a command on each item.




===== Usage examples =====
 
The following are usage examples that show the different ways xargs can be used.

==== Find all .log files and display them on stdout. ====

<code>
find /path -name *.log | xargs cat
</code>


==== Find all .log files and copy them to /tmp/ ====
 
<code>
find /path -name *.log | xargs -I% cp % /tmp/
</code>
The -I //replace-str// option causes xargs to replace occurrences of //replace-str// in the command arguments with items read from standard input.

==== Generate compact user list (replace newline by whitespace) ====

<code>
cut -d: -f1 < /etc/passwd | sort | xargs echo
</code>

{{tag>unix howto}}


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